Many of the wide variety of knife sharpeners that have been developed in the past fail to give truly sharp edges or even consistently good edges because of the lack of good angular control during the sharpening process. This is particularly true of “V-type” sharpeners intended to sharpen both edge facets simultaneously. Manual means for sharpening in particular are unsatisfactory because existing V-type sharpeners do not have an integral control of the angle but depend on the user to hold the blade vertically with respect to the sharpening surfaces while sharpening. To develop a really sharp edge it is important that the blades pass over the abrasive surface stroke after stroke at the same angle.
A common V-type sharpener is the crock stick sharpener, which typically includes a pair of ceramic rods that are crossed to form a V-shaped slot. The rods usually are made of abrasive material such as sintered aluminum oxide. In use, the knife edge is pulled through the crotch formed by the two rods. Unfortunately, there is no angular control and any rotational motion of the blade (deviation from vertical) or any tilting of the blade horizontally stroke to stroke will substantially reduce the chances of getting a sharp edge on the blade.
Another V-type sharpener uses a series of flat individual rectangular abrasive bars to form a V slot, but again there is no provision for angular control of the blade as it is pulled through the sharpener. This, like other V-type sharpeners, requires a skillful operator to hold the blade “vertical” during sharpening, which is an impractical requirement. Any angular variation stroke to stroke will result in reforming each of the blade facets at a new and different angle. This tends to dull the edge and possibly deform it, rather than sharpen it to a keen edge.
Thus, there is exists much room for improvement in the prior art.